Device for the adjustment or &#34;correlating&#34; of the engraved rollers in rotary printing machines



July 23, 1963 DEVICE FOR THE W 1 RQLLBRS IR RM'ARY r n =l- Filed April 19. 1m

United States Patent 9 3,098,434 DEVICE FOR THE ADJUSTMENT R CORRELAT- ING OF THE ENGRAVED ROLLERS IN ROTARY PRINTING MACHlNES Jean Lime, Mulhouse, France, assignor to S'ociete Alsacienne tie Constructions Mecaniques, Mulhouse, France, a company of France Filed Apr. 19, 1960, Ser. No. 23,175 Claims priority, application France Apr. 24, 1959 9 Claims. (Cl. 101-178)- The present invention relates to an improvement inrotary printing machines or similar mechanisms of the type wherein rollers, for example engraved rollers, are

in contact with a central freely mountedcylinder and'are each fast with a toothed wheel in mesh with a central driving toothed rim co-axial with the said cylinder.

This improvement is concerned with the readjustment (commonly referred to as correlating) of the relative positions of the peripheries of the various rollers, more particularly with a view to ensuring the correct registering, on a textile fabric or other material, of the motifs printed by the various rollers.

Up to the present day, this correlating work has been effected by angular oifsetting of the peripheries of the rollers relatively to their driving pinions by means of mechanisms which were fairly complicated.

The invention has as its object to provide a much simpler device wherein the periphery of the rollers is no longer offset relatively to their driving pinions, and which permits the same results to be obtained.

According to the invention, individual adjustment means are provided which make is possible to displace the geometric axis of each roller parallel to itself on a theoretical cylindrical surface co-axial with the cylinder, in such a manner that the roller remains in contact with the cylinder, the pitch circle diameter of the toothed rim being different from the diameter of the central cylinder, either owing to the construction form of the machine in any case or owing to the mechanisms being deliberately arranged in this way, so that the aforesaid displacement of the roller is accompanied by a sliding of its periphery on the periphery of the cylinder.

In this way it is possible'to effect the successive correlation of each of the rollers, by acting on the individual adjustment means corresponding thereto in the requisite sense and to the requisite degree.

In one form of embodiment, each roller is supported at least at one of its ends by an arm which can pivot on the machine frame about an axis parallel to the axis of the said roller, and the-aforesaid individual adjustment means are designed and arranged so as to effect a modification of the angular position of the said arm relatively to the machine frame.

When the pivoting axis of the arm does not coincide with the axis of the cylinder and is, therefore, spaced from the axis of the cylinder at a distance smaller or greater than the radius of the said cylinder, the said arm is designed and arranged in such a manner that its length can vary as a function of its angular position so that the conditions of engagement of roller and cylinder are fulfilled.

-In one particular constructional arrangement, the arm in question, which carries each roller, is made in the form of a jack which constitutes an assembly of variable length 3,098,434 Patented July 23, 1963 and which, at the'same time, serves as rn'eans'for applying the roller against thecylinder with the appropriate pressure.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying draw ings which show, by way of nomlirnitative example, one form of embodiment of the invention. In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammaticside view of the essential elements of a rotary printing machine provided with correlating means according tothe present invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a view on'a larger scale showing a detail of FIGURE 1.

The rotary printing machine for printing textile fabrics or similar articles shown in the drawings comprises a frame 1 on which is pivotally mounted a horizontal shaft 2 which carries a central cylinder 3 mounted freely on said shaft. Engraved printing rollers 4 are distributed about the periphery of the cylinder and are given the task of printing on the fabric 5 which is applied against thesaid cylinder with interposition of an intermediate cloth 6 known as a backing. The engraved rollers are rotated by a device which comprises a central toothed rim 7 fast with the shaft 2 and in mesh with individual toothed wheels 8 fast respectively with the engraved rollers 4. The pitch circle diameter of the toothed rim 7 differs from the diameter of the cylinder 3, and, consequently, the pitch circle diameter of each toothed wheel 8 differs from the diameter of the engraved rollers.

Each engraved roller 4 is fast with a shaft 11 each end of which is journalled in'a bearing 12 fixed at one end of an arm which is given the general reference numeral 13 and is constituted by a pneumatic jack whose cylinder is indicated at 14, the piston at 15 and the piston rod at 16.

The end of the jack cylinder which corresponds to the other end of the arm thus formed can pivot on the frame 1 about a pin 17 parallel to the shaft,.situated as near as possible to the latter and substantially in the plane which contains both the axis of the roller 4 and the axis of the central cylinder 3.

The arm 13 is supported, in such a manner that its angular position can be modified slightly, by means of an adjustable-length device which is given the general reference numeral 21 and which can pivot at one of its ends about a pin 22 parallel to the axis of the central cylinder and fixed relatively to the frame and whose other end carries a sleeve 23 which can slide freely on the rod' 16 of the jack piston as illustrated, or can swivel freely relatively to the said rod.

The sleeve 23 can rotate freely on one end of a nod 24 and is retained in the axial sense thereon by a tangential pin 20 lodged in an annular groove 19 of the rod 24. The other end of the rod 24 is journalled in a bore 25a of an externally screwthreaded socket 25 screwed into a boss 26 fast with a member 27 constituting the main part of the device 21. The said rod 24 comprises a screwthreaded portion '28 which screws into a support 29 which is made fast with the member 27 by straps 31. It

will now be appreciated that, if one rotates the screw 28,

the assembly 21 is made to lengthen or shorten, so that the arm 13 is made to pivot. During this movement, the axis of the roller 4 is displaced over a theoretical cylindrical surface co-axial with the cylinder 3, and of course the toothed wheel 8, in mesh with the toothed rim 7, rolls without sliding on the said rim, whilst the surface of the roller 4 slides over the surface of the central cylinder 3, by a certain amount corresponding to the difierence between the pitch circle diameter of the toothed wheel 8 and the diameter of the roller 4.

It will, therefore, be seen that by modifying the length of the assembly 21 it is possible at will to regulate the setting of the relative position of the periphery of the engraved roller 4 relatively to the positions of the other engraved rollers and thus to ensure convenient correlation of the rollers in the desired arrangement.

In order to control the rotational movement of the screw 28, in the present example there is provided a Worm wheel 33 slidably fixed on the rod 24 and meshing with a worm 34 which is journalled in two bearings 35, 36 fast with the member 27. The worm can be rotated by means of an adjusting wheel 37 by means of any suitable connection, for example a transmission comprising rods 38 and universal joints 40.

Fixed positioning of the worm wheel 33 in the axial sense is ensured by a tubular piece 41 screwed on to the socket 25 and locked by a lock-nut 42. The piece 41 holds the wheel 33 against the support 29. When the worm 34 is rotated, the worm wheel 33 rotates on itself without being displaced axially since it is retained axially between the piece 41 and the support 29, whilst the rod 24 can slide in the hub of the worm wheel and in the socket 25, whereas its threaded portion 28 is screwed more or less far into the support 29 and the arm 13 is displaced by a corresponding amount.

Each engraved roller 4 is supported at each of its ends by an arm such as 13, and each arm 13 is provided with a supporting and adjusting device such as 21. The adjusting devices 21 of the two ends of a roller 4 are actuated from two hand wheels such as 37 and there is provided a positive connection between the two adjusting devices of each roller, so as to ensure that the two rollersupporting arms are displaced synchronously and are constantly at the same level. In one form of embodiment, the said positive connection is declutchable so that the two roller ends can be regulated individually since, in certain cases, more particularly When the engravings of the printing rollers are offset, it is possible to obviate this by not making the said rollers strictly parallel.

The jack 14-15 is a pneumatic jack which is used at the same time for applying the engraved printing roller associated therewith against the central cylinder, with the appropriate pressure.

The angular displacements of the arms 13, intended for the correlating work, are in practice of small amplitude whilst broadly satisfying the requirements of correlating adjustment.

The devices described can be used with machines other than printing machines and, generally speaking, with any machine wherein it is desired to shift angularly a roller which is adapted to roll on another and which is driven by a gear having the features set forth hereinbefore.

I claim:

1. A rotary printing machine for printing sheet material, comprising a central freely mounted cylinder, a plurality of printing rollers in contact with said cylinder, a toothed wheel fast with each roller, a central common gear wheel coaxial with said cylinder, each of said toothed wheels meshing with said gear wheel, and means for ensuring correct relative positioning, on the sheet material, of the motifs printed by the said rollers, said means comprising individual adjustment means to selectively move the geometric axis of each roller parallel to itself over a theoretical cylindrical surface co-axial with said central cylinder, so that the roller remains in contact with the cylinder, the pitch circle diameter of the toothed gear wheel being different from the diameter of the central cylinder whereby displacement of a roller is accompanied by a sliding of its periphery over the periphery of the central cylinder when the said individual adjustment means are actuated.

2. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein each adjustment means comprises an arm supporting a printing roller at least at one end, said arm being pivoted on the frame of the machine about an axis parallel to the axis of the said roller, whereby a modification of the angular position of said arm with respect to the frame of the machine can be effected.

3. A printing machine according to claim 2, wherein the pivoting axis of said arm is non-coincident with the axis of the cylinder, and the length of said arm can be varied in dependence on its angular position whereby the conditions for engagement between the roller and the cylinder are fulfilled.

4. A printing machine according to claim 3, wherein each of the said arms is constructed in the form of a jack which constitutes an assembly of variable length and which is also used at the same time for biasing the roller against the cylinder.

5. In a rotary printing machine including a frame, a backing cylinder journaled on said frame, a plurality of printing rolls spaced about the periphery of said backing cylinder to print a strip material passed around the backing cylinder, and a plurality of cylinder and piston units pivotably mounted on said frame and connected to the printing rolls to yieldably urge the same towards said backing cylinder, a driving gear disposed coaxially with said backing cylinder, a driven pinion secured on the shaft of each printing roll and meshing with said gear to transmit rotary motion from the gear over the printing roll to said backing cylinder, and longitudinal register adjustment means comprising a plurality of reciprocable members supported by said frame and attached each to one of said cylinder and piston units to impart swinging motion to said units about their pivot on said frame as said members are moved relative to said frame, said swinging motion of each one of said units displacing the shaft of the associated printing roll along an arc of circle coaxial with said driving gear to cause the driven pinion secured on said shaft to accelerate or decelerate the surface speed of said associated printing roll with respect to the surface speed of the other printing rolls.

6. A rotary printing machine according to claim 5, in which each of said cylinder and piston units has its cylinder pivotally secured to said frame and its piston provided with a rod the outer end of which carries a bearring for the shaft of the corresponding printing roll, said longitudinal register adjustment means comprising a casing pivotally secured to said frame and housing a length portion of said reciprocable member the outer end of which carries a tubular member slidably mounted on said piston rod.

7. A rotary printing machine according to claim 6, in which said reciprocable member has a screw threaded length portion screwed through a wall of said casing, said reciprocable member being moved by means of a hand operated worm located in said casing and meshing with a worm wheel mounted on said reciprocable member to impart rotary motion thereto while permitting axial displacement of the reciprocable member relative to said Worm wheel.

8. In a rotary printing machine of the type including a freely rotatable backing cylinder and a plurality of printing rolls mounted on axes parallel to said backing cylinder spaced circumferentially therearound and biased toward said backing cylinder whereby said backing cylinder is driven by said printing rolls, common drive means driving said printing rolls at a common peripheral speed, means for moving the axis of at least one of said printing rolls parallel to itself and circumferentially of said backing cylinder, the speed ratio between said common drive means and said printing rolls being different than the speed ratio between said printing rolls and said backing cylinder.

9. In a rotary printing machine of the type having a backing cylinder and a plurality of printing rolls drivmgly engaging said backing cylinder to drive said cyl- 8,098,434 5 6 inder at a predetermined speed ratio with respect to said References Cited in the file of this patent printing rolls, common means for driving all of said print ing rolls, the improvement comprising means to adjust at UNITED STATES PATENTS least one of said printing rolls by moving it circumferk entially of said backing cylinder, said common means 5 3 55 32 is driving said printing rolls at a speed ratio different from Kaiser 1936 the speed ratio between said printing rolls and said back- 2870706 Urban Jan 19,59 ing cylinder so that upon adjustment of said one of said 2:966:846, Lima i 1961 printing rolls circumferentially slippage will occur between the surface of said one of said printing rolls and 10 said backing cylinder. 

1. A ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE FOR PRINTING SHEET MATERIAL, COMPRISING A CENTRAL FREELY MOUNTED CYLINDER, A RALITY OF PRINTING ROLLERS, IN CONTACT WITH SAID CYLINDER, A TOOTHED WHEEL FAST WITH EACH ROLLER, A CENTRAL COMMON GEAR WHEEL COAXIAL WITH SAID CYLINDER, EACH OF SAID TOOTHED WHEELS MESHING WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL, AND MEANS FOR ENSURING CORRECT RELATIVE POSITIONING, ON THE SHEET MATERIAL OF THE MOTIFS PRINTED BY THE SAID ROLLERS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING INDIVIDUAL ADJUSTMENT MEANS TO SELECTIVELY MOVE THE GEOMETRIC AXIS OF EACH ROLLER PARALLEL TO ITSELF OVER A THEORETICAL CYLINDRICAL SURFACE CO-AXIAL WITH SAID CENTRAL CYLINDER, SO THAT THE ROLLER REMAINS IN CONTACT WITH THE CYLINDER, THE PITCH CIRCLE DIAMETER OF THE TOOTHED GEAR WHEEL BEING DIFFERENT FROM THE DIAMETER OF THE CENTRAL CYLINDER WHEREBY DISPLACEMENT OF A ROLLER IS ACCOMPANIED BY A SLIDING OF ITS PERIPHERY OVER THE PERIPHERY OF THE CENTRAL CYLINDER WHEN THE SAID INDIVIDUAL ADJUSTMENT MEANS ARE ACTUATED. 